British Bull Dog revolver

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British Bull Dog revolver

Webley .450 "The British Bull Dog" model - 1870s
Type Pocket Revolver
Place of origin  United Kingdom
Production history
Designer Philip Webley & Son
Designed 1872
Manufacturer Webley and various manufacturers in Europe & USA
Produced 1872–1900s

The British Bull Dog was a popular type of solid-frame pocket revolver introduced by Philip Webley & Son of Birmingham, England in 1872 and subsequently copied by gunmakers in Continental Europe and the United States.[1] It featured a 2.5-inch (64 mm) barrel and was chambered for five .44 Short Rimfire, .442 Webley, or .450 Adams cartridges. Webley produced smaller scaled .320 Revolver and .380 calibre versions later, but did not mark them with the British Bull Dog name.

Designed to be carried in a coat pocket, many have survived to the present day in good condition, having seen little actual use.[2]

Numerous copies of this design were made in Belgium, Spain, France and the USA during the late 19th century.[3] American copies were manufactured by the firms of Forehand & Wadsworth, Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson. Belgian and American versions were also produced in smaller calibres, but all large calibre American copies were chambered for the .44 Webley (.442 British) cartridge.

Garfield assassination

A .44 calibre Belgian-made British Bulldog revolver was used to assassinate US President James Garfield on 2 July 1881 by disgruntled lawyer Charles Guiteau, who was angry that Garfield had not appointed him to a Federal post. Guiteau reportedly wanted to purchase a British Bulldog revolver with ivory grips instead of wooden ones, as he believed they would look nicer when the gun was displayed in a museum,[4] but decided not to spend the extra $US1 that the ivory-gripped model would have cost.[4] In all, he paid US$10 for the revolver, a box of cartridges and a penknife,[5] before spending the next day familiarising himself with the revolver's operation and firing 10 practice shots with it into trees along the banks of the Potomac River.[4] He eventually used the revolver to shoot Garfield a week or so later in the Sixth Street Railway Station in Washington, D.C. After Guiteau's trial, the revolver was placed in the Smithsonian Institution but some time later the revolver disappeared.[4]

The large calibre British Bulldogs are now considered collector's pieces, since their ammunition is no longer commercially manufactured.

Gallery

  • Belgian clones of British Bulldog, early 1900s.

  • Smithsonian file photograph of the British Bulldog revolver used by Charles Guiteau to assassinate President James Garfield in 1881

Notes

  1. ↑ Dowell, p. 68.
  2. ↑ Ficken, Homer R. "Webley’s ‘The British Bull Dog’ Revolver: Serial Numbering and Variations". Retrieved 2011-03-28. 
  3. ↑ Kekkonen, P.T. "British Bulldog revolver". Gunwriters. Retrieved 2006-08-03. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Elman, p. 166.
  5. ↑ Elman, p.171.

References

  • Elman, Robert (1968). Fired in Anger: The Personal Handguns of American Heroes and Villains. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. 
  • Barnes, Frank C. (1972). ".44 Bull Dog". In Amber, John T. Cartridges of the World. Northfield, IL: DBI Books. p. 170. ISBN 0-695-80326-3. 
  • Dowell, William Chipchase (1987). The Webley Story. Kirkland, WA: Commonwealth Heritage Foundation. 
  • Henrotin, Gerard (2013). Bulldog revolvers explained. Belgium: HLebooks.com. 

External links

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